ND football glory days not returning

December 18, 2009

In 1949, according to Wikipedia, there were 120-plus NCAA Division I schools playing football. In 2009, there are 120-plus NCAA Division I schools playing football. In 1949, the population of the country was more than 150 million. Today, the population of the country is more than 300 million. The population of the country has doubled and, therefore, the number of talented football players has probably doubled, too. Since the number of Division I schools playing football has stayed the same, and since Notre Dame still hasn't figured out how to play more than 11 guys at the same time, some of this increased talent will go elsewhere and the competition will continue to get better. Just as the dominance of the New York Yankees baseball teams of the '50s and UCLA basketball teams of the '70s will probably never be repeated, Notre Dame's previous dominance of football will probably never occur again either. And, regardless, the sun will come up again in the morning.

John W. BoyerSouth Bend

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More to learn The latest issue of Golf Digest has a picture on the cover of Tiger Woods advising President Obama on a putt. The article inside is titled "10 tips Obama can take from Tiger." After the past couple of weeks, I'll bet he has a couple more.

Randy WisnerSouth Bend

Unresponsive We are told that if we have something to say about the political scene, we should contact the people in Congress who represent us. Well, let me tell you! I wrote an e-mail about several things the government is doing that I don't feel represent the way the average person feels. I sent this to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and tried to send it to Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger. Donnelly's Web site kept telling me that his e-mail section was not available. After three days, I gave up. In these e-mails I never once mentioned anything about the health care plan (although I'm not for it). I received nothing from Lugar indicating he even got the e-mail. From Bayh, I received a complete explanation of the health care plan. If they don't even bother reading or asking their aides for information gathered from their e-mails, why do they say contact them? They really don't want to hear anything from "the people" unless "the people" agree with them. If we ask any hard questions, they kind of skip over that request for information. And we just keep re-electing them. No wonder all the people in Washington (actually, any government) think the average person is rather slow and complacent.

Sharon BorosSouth Bend

Get a life It's Thursday night and I am watching a prime-time show on a local television station when the program is suddenly interrupted by a news bulletin. Was there a natural disaster somewhere? Are terrorists at it again? Oh my, did someone shoot our president? No, the University of Notre Dame has hired a new football coach. The first-page headline, full page of The Tribune confirmed that when I got my delivery the next morning. All I can come up with is that a lot of folks in the South Bend area need to get a life.

Don BlazekElkhart

Values I would like to respond to Maria and Alan Lucas and their disappointment in not receiving a thank you for turning in found money (Voice, Dec. 9): Boo-hoo. I must say I was extremely disturbed by their letter. Therefore, I have two statements and one question. Just because they did the right thing does not necessarily mean someone will appreciate it. Do they do the right thing only for the glory or praise or do they do the right thing because it's the right thing to do? Most parents teach their children that doing the right thing is something called values, not a way to get more feathers in the child's cap.

Dawn ElliottTippecanoe

Hatchet job The Tribune reviewer who wrote the Dec. 6 review of "A Christmas Story" presented by New World Arts apparently has little idea about how a stage performance is presented. I suppose he has seen a few movies, but I doubt that he has seen very many stage performances like those at New World Arts. The hatchet job he did on "A Christmas Story" is hard to understand. I went to the Sunday afternoon show and found it very well done. New World Arts is an intimate setting with no curtain. One sits at the edge of the stage. Using the facilities that they have they do an excellent job of presenting thoughtful and thought-provoking plays. "A Christmas Story" is such a presentation. Apparently the reviewer has seen the movie and wants the stage performance to be movie-like. He doesn't make grammar mistakes and knows how to put a sentence together. He should be limited to movie reviews where he may be competent.